[Leviticus 19] Practical Holiness. Are we called to be “weird for Jesus”? In Leviticus 19, God instructs the people to “be holy” for He is Holy. What does it mean to be holy? God has not called you to be a “holy oddity.” Holiness is practical. It deals with an honest and transparent attitude toward God himself and a fair dealing commitment to those around you. This chapter today presents a straightforward, wholesome approach to living life in the Jesus style.
[Lev 19:1-37 KJV] 1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God [am] holy. 3 Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and keep my sabbaths: I [am] the LORD your God. 4 Turn ye not unto idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods: I [am] the LORD your God. 5 And if ye offer a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD, ye shall offer it at your own will. 6 It shall be eaten the same day ye offer it, and on the morrow: and if ought remain until the third day, it shall be burnt in the fire. 7 And if it be eaten at all on the third day, it [is] abominable; it shall not be accepted. 8 Therefore [every one] that eateth it shall bear his iniquity, because he hath profaned the hallowed thing of the LORD: and that soul shall be cut off from among his people. 9 And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest. 10 And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather [every] grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I [am] the LORD your God. 11 Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another. 12 And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I [am] the LORD. 13 Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob [him]: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning. 14 Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I [am] the LORD. 15 Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: [but] in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour. 16 Thou shalt not go up and down [as] a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour: I [am] the LORD. 17 Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him. 18 Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I [am] the LORD. 19 Ye shall keep my statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind: thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed: neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woollen come upon thee. 20 And whosoever lieth carnally with a woman, that [is] a bondmaid, betrothed to an husband, and not at all redeemed, nor freedom given her; she shall be scourged; they shall not be put to death, because she was not free. 21 And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the LORD, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, [even] a ram for a trespass offering. 22 And the priest shall make an atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering before the LORD for his sin which he hath done: and the sin which he hath done shall be forgiven him. 23 And when ye shall come into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees for food, then ye shall count the fruit thereof as uncircumcised: three years shall it be as uncircumcised unto you: it shall not be eaten of. 24 But in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be holy to praise the LORD [withal]. 25 And in the fifth year shall ye eat of the fruit thereof, that it may yield unto you the increase thereof: I [am] the LORD your God. 26 Ye shall not eat [any thing] with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe times. 27 Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard. 28 Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I [am] the LORD. 29 Do not prostitute thy daughter, to cause her to be a whore; lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness. 30 Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I [am] the LORD. 31 Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I [am] the LORD your God. 32 Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I [am] the LORD. 33 And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him. 34 [But] the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I [am] the LORD your God. 35 Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure. 36 Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have: I [am] the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt. 37 Therefore shall ye observe all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: I [am] the LORD.
At the beginning of our chapter, God speaks to Moses, saying, “You shall be holy for I the Lord your God am holy…” What does that mean? We hear about churches and groups called “holiness churches” and usually characterize them by their austere lifestyles and seemingly backward ways. The word here for holy is “Kadosh, ” which means “separated, set apart, consecrated…” Consecration implies an adherence and focus upon God Himself. The dictionary defines consecration as:
1. The act or ceremony of separating form a common to a sacred use, or of devoting and dedicating a person or thing to the service and worship of God, by certain rites or solemnities.
Consecration does not make a person or thing holy, but declares it to be sacred, devoted to God or to divine service; as the consecration of the priests among the Israelites; the consecration of the vessels used in the temple; the consecration of a bishop. In ancient times the term “holy” or “holiness” did not imply isolation (to be set apart) but rather belonging to a special class of priests who were uniquely devoted to God. This uniqueness was inherently understood to make a demand on the person’s life to be different than those around them. God is calling not just a few but the whole of the people in the wilderness to be “holy.” What does this mean to us? Remember, this is not just history, but according to 1 Co. 10:11, this record is an example to us – saying something about who Jesus is to us and what the implications of His Lordship are in our lives.
From the perspective of a “holy” person or a person called to be holy, we live our lives by the maxim “others may – you cannot…” In our chapter, God lays out some examples of this:
“You shall fear (respect) mother and father and keep the Sabbaths.” Honoring mother and father according to Eph. 6:2, is the first commandment with a promise attached. Perhaps your parents are not very honorable in their actions, but you can honor them as the vessels through whom God brought you into the earth and gave you life. Also, we see that the people were not to make “molten images.” Now in western society, praying to statues or figures is not as common as it was in ancient times. We do, however, have our idols. There are screen idols, matinee idols, music and fashion idols, etc. otherwise known as the cult of celebrity. In 1 John 5:21, John told a very spiritual group of Christians to “keep yourselves from idols…” Idolatry proposes the dwelling place of God to be somewhere other than the human heart. Idolatry manifests in our lives as any outward dependency taking the place of inward reliance on Christ. In other words, “looking to other things, people or outward resources for security that we ought to be looking to Christ for…” People will fail us; circumstances change, but God never changes. Col. 1:26,27 says, “Christ in you” is the hope of Glory. Phil. 4:19 says that God “meets all your need” from “His riches in glory…”
It isn’t possible to step out into the world without mental images being cast into your mind by the media that is everywhere we look. We don’t make molten idols but rather mental images – it is up to us to guard our hearts to not become a mere commercial commodity or focus group manipulated by the marketplace. Remember that in this passage, God is laying out where the Hebrews were to be holy or set apart in their behavior. Other cultures around them didn’t do these things, but because they belonged to God, they were to conduct themselves according to a different tact. They weren’t doing these things because they were right and moral because that leaves God out. There are atheists who think of themselves as right and moral. We make these choices rather because we belong to God.
The Hebrews were further instructed not to completely strip their fields and vineyards in time of harvest. They were to intentionally leave surplus for the poor. This is a glaring contrast to Christian culture today. We teach many values and gather each week to sing, listen to sermons, and give of our finances to the church’s program, but what about the poor? Gal. 2:10 says to “remember the poor.” This was intended to be a very personal activity, not just giving a few dollars to a program. We all know people less fortunate than ourselves. Make it your purpose today to personally connect with one of these, look them in the eye, take them by the hand, and do something helpful and supportive that makes their life better.
Verse 13 addresses fair dealing and a prohibition against defrauding those around us. When it says not to “defraud,” your neighbor the word there means “to press upon.” Do you put pressure on those around you? We all have pressure in our lives, and it can become second nature to put pressure likewise upon others, particularly those who are part of the problem in our lives instead of part of the solution. We need to let people up. We pressure people by our expectations. We expect people to treat us right (according to our arbitrary standard), and we have many judgments and, at times, much bitterness in our hearts because those around us didn’t treat us fairly. Set your expectations not upon man but upon God, who will never disappoint you.
We also see a warning and instruction not to give special treatment or preferential treatment in judgment to either the rich or the poor. You are not to respect the poor or the wealthy. No respect of persons. God places no premium upon poverty. A spirit of poverty bounds many people because of bitter root judgments against wealthy people and riches in general. You are where your attention takes you. If all your attention is on the poor to the exclusion of the wealthy then you are moving toward poverty in your own life. We neither to gravitate to the poor or the wealthy but rather to listen to the voice of God and conduct our lives and all our interactions according to the dictates of the Spirit of God and not our own opinions or personal value systems regarding who is worthy of our time and attention.
Then we come to the prohibition against gossip. You are not to “go up and down as a talebearer among the people…” That just about excludes Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, and most news outlets. Even well known Christian magazines and websites are focused on proliferating news and events that are contrary to the character of Christ. Gossip is gossip, whether it is true or not. Just because a rumor is confirmed doesn’t mean it still isn’t gossip. In the information age in which we live, gossip is a multi-million dollar industry. Just because we present our gossip from slick, high-tech broadcasting facilities in New York City does not elevate the character of what we hear from the salacious and the profane. Gossip is the exchange of information between those who are neither part of the problem or part of the solution. If you are sharing or listening to a report and you are neither part of the solution nor part of the problem, you are engaging in gossip. Prov. 6:16-19 lists gossip as one of the six things that God hates.
Verse 17 says we are not to hate our brother or neighbor. We are also not to rebuke others or to suffer them to be mistreated. I heard a minister one time make a statement that he was not called to correct anyone. The word of God does the correcting. We are often quick to give our counsel when we should be quiet. Never answer a question before it is asked. You have no authority until someone invites you to give input. Some people live to interfere in others’ lives and excuse it by saying, “that’s who I am; I am just prophetic…” The prophetic has nothing to do with being meddlesome or critical toward others. 1 Cor. 14:1-3 says that prophecy is for edification, exhortation, and comfort. Suppose someone in your life claims to be prophetic and speaks outside those parameters. In that case, you need to distance yourself from that person – they are operating in a wrong spirit (even those who claim they are exempt from edification, exhortation and comfort because they are in the OFFICE of a prophet).
Verse 17 also says, “you will not suffer sin upon your brother…” If you see your brother being wrongly accused, taken advantage of, or oppressed, it is not a proper response to say, “well isn’t that too bad” but then adopt the position of not wanting to get involved. If it is within your power and you are a part of the equation, you should do something to ease the burden being imposed upon your brother. Verse 20 talks about the consequences of exposing sexual sin. It mentions explicitly fair dealing with the opposite sex and specifically a mandate to fairly dealing with women. It says she shall be scourged but not put to death. So many times, in our religious culture, we are more lenient upon the man than we are upon the woman in regard to sexual indiscretions. In either case, we are not to treat these things as capital crimes from which there is no reprieve or restoration.
In the balance of our chapter remaining, we see references, among other things, to marking our bodies. Is it ok to have a tattoo? This gets over into some very personal choices people make over their own bodies. For myself, I was never comfortable getting a tattoo. There are believers who have very prominent tattoos and do it as a mark of their faith. Does it matter, and does anyone have the right to suggest what is right and wrong in terms of your body and your appearance? Paul said this:
[1Co 6:20 KJV] 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
However you dress or whatever image you present to the world around you, simply be humble enough to hold yourself accountable to this verse. For some people perhaps many, having a good conscience in this area constitutes a personal prohibition against getting a tattoo. If you insist that the Bible says nothing about such things, you aren’t being honest with the text. Then we see commands to keep the Sabbaths and reverence the sanctuary. In Christianity, we can be very superstitious about religious culture and infrastructure. We should bear in mind that the kingdom of God is within us not some building with a steeple. What the verse here speaks to us is not to be common or casual with spiritual things. We should handle spiritual matters with a tact and delicacy that reflects the honor and respect we have for God Himself. There is also a command to “Rise up before the hoary (grey) head.” Our society worships at the altar of youthfulness. Men and women subject themselves to all manner things to maintain a youthful appearance. The elderly are not respected as the scripture implies and in our culture we should make a concerted effort to honor and respect and defer to the aged.
God also instructs Moses regarding immigrants. We are to love them as we love ourselves. On the news, we see immigrant children behind Guantanamo style chain-link enclosures sleeping on floors. Whole communities are stopping buses full of illegals and turning them around on the threat of rioting in the streets. The scriptures could not be plainer – we are to love them as we love ourselves. The mandates of scripture take precedence over the politics of illegal immigration. To say otherwise is to set yourself at variance with God himself. Just balances and weights are emphasized. We often lightly excuse ourselves for egregious sin and selfishness but vehemently attack others for mere imagined infractions of some minor nuance of the scripture. God looks to us because we belong to Him to accord others the same fair dealing, even preferential treatment we show ourselves. Finally, God commands us to keep all his judgments and statutes not only to KEEP THEM but to DO THEM. Where do we start? Jesus summed up all the law and the prophets thus:
[Mar 12:30-31 KJV] 30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this [is] the first commandment. 31 And the second [is] like, [namely] this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
Jesus did not come to eliminate the law but to walk in fulfillment of it by applying the Golden Rule, which was His mandate and should likewise be our own.
